Saint of the day .

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 14th February

Saint Valentine

Two early Christian martyrs called Valentine are listed on this day in the Roman Martyrology. One was a Roman priest, who died for his faith on the Flaminian Way under Claudius. The other was a bishop of Terni who was killed in Rome. Some historians believe they are the same person.

There is no evidence to link the tradition of sending Valentine cards with the saint. But according to legend, St Valentine sent a farewell message to his jailer's daughter the day before he was executed, signed 'from your Valentine'. Some believe the custom grew out of an ancient idea that birds are supposed to begin their courtship on this day. Others point to the fact that the old Roman Lupercalia festival (in honour of the god of fertility, Lupercus) was held around the middle of February. The idea of sending cards and love letters on February 14 is at least as old as Chaucer and was mentioned in the Paston letters.

There are no churches in England dedicated to St Valentine. In 1836 some relics that were exhumed from the catacombs of Saint Hippolytus on the Via Tiburtina, then near Rome, were identified with Saint Valentine. These relics were placed in a casket, donated by Pope Gregory XVI, and transported to the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin. The Franciscan church of Blessed John Duns Scotus in Glasgow is also said to have relics of the saint.
He is the patron of bee keepers, engaged couples, epilepsy, fainting, greetings, happy marriages, love, lovers, plague, travellers, young people. He is represented in pictures with birds and roses.

Saint Valentine , pray for all engaged to be married and for all married couples that their marriages may be happy ones .

and Saints Cyril and Methodius

These early Christian 'Apostles of the Slavs' were brothers from Thessalonika. Constantine, was a brilliant student at Constantinople and became a priest a and professor at the university there. Methodius, was first a a provincial governor before joining a monastery on the Bithynian Olympus. In 863 they went to evangelise Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic). In order to do this they translated the Scriptures into the Slavonic language. The local Latin clergy were so opposed to this, that the brothers travelled to Rome to get official permission. Constantine became a monk there, taking the name Cyril. He died in 869. Methodius got permission for the translation and returned to Moravia to continue his work. He died in 885.

The brothers were declared co-patrons of Europe with St Benedict in 1980.

Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius , pray for all who live in Europe .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 15th February

Saint Claude de la Colombiere

Jesuit. Born at Saint Symphorien d'Ozon in 1641, Claude was educated at the Jesuit college at Lyon, Avigonon and Paris and ordained in 1674.

Together with his friend and spiritual companion, St Margaret Mary Alacoque he had a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He felt the emphasis on God's love for all was an antidote to the rigorous moralism of the Jansenists and Calvinists who were very powerful in France at the time.

In 1675 he was made superior of a small Jesuit residence in Burgundy.

He was next sent to England to serve as chaplain to the Duchess of York. Her husband, the future King James II was also a Catholic. But he was soon arrested and imprisoned, accused of involvement in the 'Popish Plot'. Rather than being executed like St Oliver Plunkett, he was deported back to France. His time in prison had ruined his health and in 1682 he died. Claude de la Colombière was known as a wonderful preacher and a wise spiritual guide. He was canonised by Pope John Paul II in 1992.


Saint Claude de la Colombiere , may we know God's love for each and everyone for He is Love .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 16th February

Saint Elias and Companions

Martyrs. The story of these fourth century martyrs was recorded by the historian Eusebius who was living in Caesarea around the time they were killed there.

He describes them as five Egyptian Christians called Elias, Daniel, Samuel, Jeremy and Isaias. They had travelled to the area to express their solidarity with several Christian friends who had been sentenced to hard labour in the stone quarries of Cilicia for their faith.

The five were beginning the journey back to back to Egypt when they were arrested and questioned at the gates of Caesarea in Palestine. When asked where they were going they answered 'Jerusalem' (meaning the heavenly city). They refused to say another word under torture and were eventually all beheaded.

Saint Elias and Companions , pray for the people of Egypt .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 17th February

The Seven Servite Founders

In the year 1233, these seven men from some of the most prosperous families in Florence, set themselves up as hermits on Monte Senario, not far from the city. They had a great devotion to Our Lady.

Their names were: Bonfilius Monaldi, John Bonaiuncta, Manettus dell Antella, Amadeus degli Amidei, Hugh Uguccione, Sosthenes Sostegno and Alexis Falconieri.

Their community grew into an order of mendicant friars, the Servants of Mary (Servites) which is still at work in many parts of the world today.

Their first leader was Bonfilius. One of their most well know members was Alexis, whose modesty made him refuse Holy Orders. He helped found a community at Siena, working as a laybrother. Alexis outlived the other seven and is said to have died at the age of 110, in 1310. Their most famous church, the Annunziata in Florence, is still served by the order today. The group were canonised in 1887.

The Seven Servite Founders , pray that we may have a true devotion to Mary .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 18th February

Saint Colman of Lindisfarne

Bishop. Born in Ireland, Colman became a monk at Iona and succeeded St Fintan as bishop of Lindisfarne. Bede gives a glowing account of Lindisfarne under Colman's rule, which took place from 661- 664. He emphasised the example of frugality and simplicity of living set by the bishop, and the complete devotion of the clergy to the work of preaching the Gospel and ministering to their people.

During the disagreement in Northumbria about the date of Easter, Colman upheld the Celtic customs while Wilfrid supported Rome. King Oswy accepted Wilfrid's arguments and Colman resigned his bishopric and retired. He went first to Iona and then to Inishbofin island off the Connacht coast. All his Irish monks and 30 of the English ones went with him, but there were differences between the two groups. Eventually Colman made a separate foundation for the English monks at Mayo (which was called the 'Mayo of the Saxons') while Colman remained on Inishbofin with the Irish monks.

Bede praised Mayo for living under a Rule, and an elected abbot. The first abbot after Colman was an Englishman, St Gerald. St Colman died in 676.

Saint Colman of Lindisfarne , pray for all bishops in the Church .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 19th February

Saint Mesrop the Teacher

Bishop. Born in 345, this saint was one of the founders of the Armenian church. He worked with St Isaac the Great as a missionary among his people.

St Mesrop developed an alphabet for the Armenian language and set up schools around the country. He then accomplished the massive task of organising a translation of the Bible - with students travelling as far as Rome to collect manuscripts. He contributed the Armenian version of the New Testament and the Book of Proverbs himself. St Mesrop also worked as a missionary in Georgia, where he also had a literary influence.

It was Mesrop and Isaac who began the formation of the Armenian liturgy of worship based on that of the mother church of Caesarea in Cappadocia. The Armenian translation of the Bible has a special value for scholars as it is so ancient. St Mesrop died in 439.

Saint Mesrop the Teacher , pray for the people of Armenia .

 

[Colin]

{ From ICN }

Saint of the day: 20th February

Blessed Jacinta and Francisco Marto

Visionaries. Between 13 May and 13 October 1917, three children, Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia, Portuguese shepherds from Aljustrel, saw apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon.

At that time, Europe was involved in an extremely bloody war. Portugal itself was in political turmoil, having overthrown its monarchy in 1910; the government disbanded religious organizations soon after.

During the first appearance, Mary asked the children to return to that spot on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months. She also asked them to learn to read and write and to pray the rosary "to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war." They were to pray for sinners and for the conversion of Russia, which had recently overthrown Czar Nicholas II and was soon to fall under communism. Up to 90,000 people gathered for Mary's final apparition on October 13, 1917.

Less than two years later, in 1919, Francisco died of influenza in his family home. He was 11. He was buried in the parish cemetery and then re-buried in the Fatima basilica in 1952. Jacinta died the next year of influenza in Lisbon. She was just 10. During her illness she offering her suffering for the conversion of sinners, peace in the world and the Holy Father. She was re-buried in the Fatima basilica in 1951.
Their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun and was still living when Jacinta and Francisco were beatified in 2000. She died on 13 February 2005. In 2008, on the third anniversary of her death, at a special Mass in the cathedral of Coimbra, Portugal, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins CMF, president of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, announced that an exception was being made so that the usual five-year wait could be waived and the diocesan stage of the cause for her beatification would begin.

The shrine of Our Lady of Fatima is visited by up to 20 million people a year and is particularly dedicated to prayers for peace and reconciliation.


Blessed Jacinta and Francisco Marto , pray for peace and reconciliation throughout the word , and today especially in Ukraine .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 21st February

Saint Robert Southwell

Martyr, Jesuit priest, poet. St Robert was born in Horsham St Faith, Norfolk, in 1561 and spent much of his childhood in Sussex.

He studied at Douai and Paris and wanted to be a priest from his earliest youth. In 1578, when he was barely 17, he was admitted to the Jesuit novitiate in Rome. After his ordination in 1584 he was appointed prefect of studies at the English College. Two years later he was sent to the English mission with fellow Jesuit Henry Garnett. They arrived a year after it had become high treason for a priest trained abroad to be in the country. Harbouring them was also a felony. Robert must have been well aware of the risk he was taking. The Jesuit priest Edmund Campion had been martyred three years earlier.

On his arrival he attended a meeting at Hurleyford House in the Thames valley, which mapped out a new strategy for the survival of the Catholic Church in England. It was attended by the court composer William Byrd and several leading Catholics of the day. A solemn sung Mass was celebrated.

That day Robert met Anne Dacre, countess of Arundel and Surrey. Her husband was a prisoner in the Tower and Robert visited him there. For the next six years he lived in a small room at Arundel House in the Strand, known only to a few trusted friends and servants. He spent the days in prayer and writing. At night he came out to minister to Catholics in London and the country. It was a dangerous way to live and several times he narrowly escaped being caught by priest-hunters.

In response to the Proclamation of 1591, claiming that Catholics were proscribed for treachery only, not for religion, he composed his Humble Supplication to Her Majesty - a devastating attack on the government.

Despite the secrecy of his existence, he became an influential figure in literary society. Some critics think it is likely he met Shakespeare and had some influence on his work.

In 1592 he was arrested by Richard Topcliffe, a professional priest-hunter who had already tortured, raped and killed a number of recusants. For several weeks he was tortured at Topcliffe's house in Westminster. He was then locked away in the Tower for three years. Finally in 1595 he was put on trial where even the judge expressed shock at the ordeal he had been subjected to by Topcliffe. The sentence however, was inevitable. Robert was hung drawn and quartered at Tyburn together with a notorious highwayman, in front of a huge crowd. After praying for the country and the Queen he said: "whether we live or die we belong to the Lord... All you angels and saints assist me."

St Robert was the last Catholic to be executed in this way at Tyburn. His reputation went far beyond Catholic circles and his writing and his death helped to work a profound change in the moral climate of England.

He was beatified in 1929 and canonised as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales in 1970.

Saint Robert Southwell , may your life , your example and your prayer help to work a profound change in the moral climate of England .

 

[S.ilvio]

Saint of the day: 21st February

Saint Robert Southwell

Martyr, Jesuit priest, poet. St Robert was born in Horsham St Faith, Norfolk, in 1561 and spent much of his childhood in Sussex.

He studied at Douai and Paris and wanted to be a priest from his earliest youth. In 1578, when he was barely 17, he was admitted to the Jesuit novitiate in Rome. After his ordination in 1584 he was appointed prefect of studies at the English College. Two years later he was sent to the English mission with fellow Jesuit Henry Garnett. They arrived a year after it had become high treason for a priest trained abroad to be in the country. Harbouring them was also a felony. Robert must have been well aware of the risk he was taking. The Jesuit priest Edmund Campion had been martyred three years earlier.

On his arrival he attended a meeting at Hurleyford House in the Thames valley, which mapped out a new strategy for the survival of the Catholic Church in England. It was attended by the court composer William Byrd and several leading Catholics of the day. A solemn sung Mass was celebrated.

That day Robert met Anne Dacre, countess of Arundel and Surrey. Her husband was a prisoner in the Tower and Robert visited him there. For the next six years he lived in a small room at Arundel House in the Strand, known only to a few trusted friends and servants. He spent the days in prayer and writing. At night he came out to minister to Catholics in London and the country. It was a dangerous way to live and several times he narrowly escaped being caught by priest-hunters.

In response to the Proclamation of 1591, claiming that Catholics were proscribed for treachery only, not for religion, he composed his Humble Supplication to Her Majesty - a devastating attack on the government.

Despite the secrecy of his existence, he became an influential figure in literary society. Some critics think it is likely he met Shakespeare and had some influence on his work.

In 1592 he was arrested by Richard Topcliffe, a professional priest-hunter who had already tortured, raped and killed a number of recusants. For several weeks he was tortured at Topcliffe's house in Westminster. He was then locked away in the Tower for three years. Finally in 1595 he was put on trial where even the judge expressed shock at the ordeal he had been subjected to by Topcliffe. The sentence however, was inevitable. Robert was hung drawn and quartered at Tyburn together with a notorious highwayman, in front of a huge crowd. After praying for the country and the Queen he said: "whether we live or die we belong to the Lord... All you angels and saints assist me."

St Robert was the last Catholic to be executed in this way at Tyburn. His reputation went far beyond Catholic circles and his writing and his death helped to work a profound change in the moral climate of England.

He was beatified in 1929 and canonised as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales in 1970.

Saint Robert Southwell , may your life , your example and your prayer help to work a profound change in the moral climate of England .

An example of great bravery. Thank you Colin...

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 22nd February

Saint Margaret of Cortona

Franciscan sister. Margaret was the beautiful daughter of a Tuscan peasant, born in 1242. At the age of 18 she fell in love with a rich young nobleman and ran away to live with him. The couple had a son. For nine years the local community was scandalised as she is said to have ridden about dressed in fine silks and despising the poor. Her life changed dramatically when she was just 27 when her lover was murdered. Margaret found his body thrown in a pit.

Margaret's parents refused to let her come home, but another family took her in with her child. For some time she was extremely distraught and began to feel very sorry for her past life. She then joined the Franciscans and gradually found peace of mind. Her son later became a Franciscan too.

St Margaret spent the rest of her life caring for the poor and sick. In 1286 she formed her own community which ran a hospital. Many people came to her for advice and prayers and many miracles were attributed to her during her lifetime. She died at the age of 50. Her incorrupt body lies in the church at Cortona. She was formally canonised in 1728.

Saint Margaret of Cortona , may we be inspired by you never to give up trusting in God's mercy .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 23rd February

Saint Polycarp

Bishop of Smyrna, martyr. This 2nd century saint was a disciple of St John the Evangelist and an important link between the time of the Apostles and the earliest Christians. He was very elderly when he was arrested during the persecutions of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

His captors tried to force him to make sacrifices to idols but he refused, saying: "For 86 years I have served Christ and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my king and saviour now."

The Romans threw him into a fire, but he told them: "You threaten me with a fire that will certainly burn out. You know nothing of the eternal fire that is reserved for the wicked."

According to eyewitnesses, the flames had so little effect on him they had to kill him with a dagger.

St Polycarp wrote this prayer:

'God the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Increase us in faith and truth and gentleness,
and grant us part and lot among the saints.'

Saint Polycarp , may your prayer become my prayer .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 24th February

The Martyrs of Carthage

Montanus, Lucius, Victoricus, Flavian and companions were ten disciples of St Cyprian of Carthage. They were martyred there under the reign of the Emperor Valerian in 259. The story of their imprisonment and martyrdom is well documented.

The group were arrested by an official called Solon after St Cyprian was executed in 258. they spent many months kept in dark dungeons with little food or water. Somehow in such inhuman conditions, the little Christian community bonded and helped one another.

When they were finally called to the place of execution, each was permitted to speak. Montanus, who was tall and strong, spoke bravely to the Christian crowd. He told them to be true to Jesus and to die rather than give up the faith. Lucius, who was small and frail, walked quietly to the place of execution. He was weak from the harsh months in prison and had to lean on two friends. The people who watched called to him to remember them from paradise. As each of the Christians were beheaded one after another, the crowd wept and prayed.


Martyrs of Carthage , may we be inspired by your courage .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 25th February

Saint Ethelbert of Kent

King. Born in 560, Ethelbert was the Anglo Saxon king who welcomed St Augustine and his monks when they arrived in Kent in 597. His wife Bertha, a Frankish princess, was already a Christian and he was soon converted. Although he embraced his faith with enthusiasm, unlike some of his contemporaries, he did not try to force his subjects to become Christians. Instead he gave the missionaries every help to peacefully promote the Gospel.

He built St Andrew's cathedral in Rochester and played a part in the conversion of his neighbour King Sabert of the East Saxons. He also built the first St Paul's cathedral in London. Pope Gregory the Great was very pleased with King Ethelbert. He wrote: " By means of the good gifts that God has granted to you, I know he blesses your people as well."

St Ethelbert was the most influential ruler in Southern England. His code for laws in Kent was the earliest known written document written in a Germanic language. He died in Canterbury in 661. An unofficial cult to him is thought to have begun from the earliest times.

Saint Ethelbert of Kent , following your example may the Gospel always be promoted peacefully .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 26th February

Saint Porphyry of Gaza

Bishop. Born in Salonica in 352, St Porphyry became a monk and lived in the Egyptian desert and the Jordan valley. After some years he developed a serious illness and decided to spend the last days of his life in Jerusalem, following in the steps of Jesus.

When he first arrived he could barely walk he was so ill, but miraculously one day he experienced a complete recovery. Porphyry then inherited some wealth. He gave it all away to the poor and began to earn his living as a shoemaker. At the age of 40 he was ordained a priest and in 396 he became bishop of Gaza.

Initially many people did not want to become Christian. They tried to drive him out and ransacked his house. However, after many years of patient teaching he won many converts who are the ancestors of the Christian Palestinians today. St Porphyry is said to have owned a large piece of the True Cross. He died in 420.

Saint Porphyry of Gaza , pray for peace , justice and reconciliation in the land where you ministered the Gospel of peace .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 27th February

Saint Gabriel Possenti

Monk. Patron of young people. St Gabriel was born in 1838, a younger son of the governor of Assisi. He studied at the Jesuit college at Spoleto where he was known for his love of clothes, dancing and the theatre. He also had a great following among the ladies.

Unfortunately he suffered from poor health. Twice, when he was taken seriously ill he decided to enter a religious order, but changed his mind when he felt better. One day during the procession of the miraculous icon of Spoleto he was overcome with the desire to be a priest. He entered the Passionists monastery in Morrovalle in 1856 where he soon earned a reputation for having a very cheerful and light-hearted nature, as well as being very prayerful. St Gabriel had a great devotion to Our Lady. Unfortunately illness was never far away. He died in 1862 from tuberculosis before he could be ordained. He was only 24.

Several of Gabriel's letters have been published. His shrine at Assisi is very popular with pilgrims. He was canonised in 1920 and is a patron of youth and the Abruzzi region.
Saint Gabriel Possenti , pray for the youth .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 28th February

Blessed Daniel Brottier

Priest. Born in France in 1876, Daniel began his working life as a teacher. After a few years working at home he felt drawn to the priesthood and joined the missionary Congregation of the Holy Spirit. In 1899 he was ordained and sent to Senegal, West Africa. After eight years service there, ill-health forced him to return to France, where he helped raise funds for the construction of a new cathedral in Senegal.

On the outbreak of the First World War Fr Daniel became a volunteer chaplain and spent four years at the front. He risked his life many times ministering to the suffering and dying soldiers. He attributed his survival in the trenches to the intercession of Saint Therese of Lisieux.

After the war he helped establish a project for orphaned and abandoned children in a Paris suburb and spent the rest of his life there. He died in 1936 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Paris only 48 years later.

Blessed Daniel Brottier , may your example inspire many to care for orphaned and abandoned children wherever they are to be found .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the Day: 1 March

St David

Monk and Bishop. According to tradition, St David was the son of King Sant of South Wales and St No. He was ordained a priest and later studied under St Paulinus. Later, he was involved in missionary work and founded a number of monasteries.
The monastery he founded at Menevia in Southwestern Wales was noted for extreme asceticism. David and his monks drank neither wine nor beer - only water - while putting in a full day of heavy manual labor and intense study. Around the year 550, David attended a synod at Brevi in Cardiganshire. His contributions at the synod are said to have been the major cause for his election as primate of the Cambrian Church. He was reportedly consecrated archbishop by the patriarch of Jerusalem while on a visit to the Holy Land. He also is said to have invoked a council that ended the last vestiges of Pelagianism.
Many of the traditional tales about David are found in the Buchedd Dewi, a hagiography written by Rhygyfarch in the late 11th century. Rhygyfarch claimed it was based on documents found in the cathedral archives. Modern historians are sceptical of some of its claims: one of Rhygyfarch's aims was to establish some independence for the Welsh church, which had refused the Roman rite until the 8th century and now sought a metropolitan status equal to that of Canterbury.
He became renowned as a teacher and preacher, founding monastic settlements and churches in Wales, Dumnonia, and Brittany. St David's Cathedral stands on the site of the monastery he founded in the Glyn Rhosyn valley of Pembrokeshire. He rose to a bishopric and presided over two synods against Pelagianism: the first at Brefi around 560 and the second at Caerleon (the "Synod of Victory") around 569.
His best-known miracle is said to have taken place when he was preaching in the middle of a large crowd at the Synod of Brefi: the village of Llanddewi Brefi stands on the spot where the ground on which he stood is reputed to have risen up to form a small hill. A white dove, which became his emblem, was seen settling on his shoulder.
Rhygyfarch counted Glastonbury Abbey among the churches David founded. Around 40 years later William of Malmesbury, believing the Abbey older, said that David visited Glastonbury only to rededicate the Abbey and to donate a travelling altar including a great sapphire. He had had a vision of Jesus who said that "the church had been dedicated long ago by Himself in honour of His Mother, and it was not seemly that it should be re-dedicated by human hands". So David instead commissioned an extension to be built to the abbey, east of the Old Church. (The dimensions of this extension given by William were verified archaeologically in 1921). One manuscript indicates that a sapphire altar was among the items King Henry VIII confiscated from the abbey at its dissolution a thousand years later.
David died at his monastery in Menevia around the year 589, and his cult was approved in 1120 by Pope Callistus II. He is revered as the patron of Wales.
His last words to his followers were in a sermon on the previous Sunday. Rhygyfarch transcribes these as "Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us." "Do ye the little things in life" ("Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd") is today a very well known phrase in Welsh.
David was buried at St David's Cathedral at St David's, Pembrokeshire, where his shrine was a popular place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages. During the 10th and 11th centuries the Cathedral was regularly raided by Vikings, who removed the shrine from the church and stripped off the precious metal adornments. In 1275 a new shrine was constructed, the ruined base of which remains to this day , which was originally surmounted by an ornamental wooden canopy with murals of St David, St Patrick and St Denis of France. The relics of St David and St Justinian were kept in a portable casket on the stone base of the shrine. It was at this shrine that Edward I came to pray in 1284. During the Reformation his shrine was destroyed.
David's popularity in Wales is shown by the Armes Prydein Fawr, of around 930, a popular poem which prophesied that in the future, when all might seem lost, the Cymry (the Welsh people) would unite behind the standard of David to defeat the English; "A lluman glân Dewi a ddyrchafant" ("And they will raise the pure banner of Dewi").
David's life and teachings have inspired a choral work by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins, Dewi Sant. It is a seven-movement work best known for the classical crossover series Adiemus, which intersperses movements reflecting the themes of David's last sermon with those drawing from three Psalms. An oratorio by another Welsh composer Arwel Hughes, also entitled Dewi Sant, was composed in 1950.


St David , patron saint of Wales , pray for the people of Wales .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 2nd March

2 March

Saint Chad

Bishop. St Chad was the first bishop of Mercia and Lindsay at Lichfield. Born in Northumbria in the 7th century, he was a pupil of St Aidan at Lindisfarne, who sent him to Ireland for part of his education. He later became abbot of Lastingham in Yorkshire, but was then called to be bishop of York. In 669 St Theodore of Canterbury judged him to have been irregularly consecrated. Chad accepted the decision and humbly went back to his monastery. Theodore was so impressed by his character he made him bishop of Mercia with his see at Lichfield.

St Chad lived only three years longer, but during that time, according to Bede: "he administered his diocese in great holiness of life, following the example of the ancient fathers."

St Chad always travelled on foot, until Archbishop Theodore insisted that he rode a horse. He founded a monastery in Lincolnshire, probably at Barrow upon Humber and another near Lichfield cathedral. He died on this day in 672 and was very soon venerated as a saint. There were many reports of healings at his tomb which became a popular centre for pilgrimage.

Several shrines were built to him at the cathedral church of St Peter each more elaborate until the last one, built by the bishop of Lichfield Robert Stretton in the late 1300s. which was decorated in gold and precious jewels.

Rowland Lee, the last Catholic bishop of Lichfield from 1534 - 53, begged Henry VIII to spare the shrine but it was destroyed by reformers. Some bones were later discovered, apparently preserved by recusants. These are now in St Chad's Catholic cathedral in Birmingham. They were recently carbon-tested and date to the seventh century

An illuminated Gospel of St Chad, that probably belonged to the shrine, is now in Lichfield cathedral library. Thirty-nine ancient churches and several wells mainly in the Midlands were dedicated to St Chad. There are also several modern dedications.


Saint Chad , may we be inspired by your example to live a simple life .

 

[Colin]

Saint of the day: 3rd March


Saint Katharine Drexel

Nun and foundress. Katharine Drexel was the daughter of a millionaire banker. Born in Philadelphia in 1858, she had an excellent education and travelled widely. Her unusual family had their own railway car and were used to every luxury. But her mother also opened the door of their home to the poor three days each week and her father spent half an hour each evening in prayer.

As a young woman Katherine nursed her stepmother through a three-year terminal illness. This made her realise that all the Drexel money could not buy safety from pain or death. It was around this time her life took a profound turn.

Katherine had always been interested in the plight of the Native American Indians, having been appalled by reading Helen Hunt Jackson's A Century of Dishonor. While on a European tour, she met Pope Leo XIII and asked him to send more missionaries to Wyoming for her friend Bishop James O'Connor. The Pope replied: "Why don't you become a missionary?" His answer shocked her into considering new possibilities.

Back home, she visited the Dakotas, met the Sioux leader Red Cloud and began her systematic aid to Indian missions.
She could easily have married. But after much discussion with Bishop O'Connor, she wrote in 1889: "The feast of St Joseph brought me the grace to give the remainder of my life to the Indians and the Colored." Newspaper headlines declared: " Heiress gives Up Seven Million!"

After three and a half years of training, she and her first band of nuns (Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored) opened a boarding school in Santa Fe. A string of foundations followed. By 1942 she had a system of black Catholic schools in 13 states, plus 40 mission centers and 23 rural schools. Segregationists harassed her work, even burning a school in Pennsylvania. In all, she established 50 missions for Indians in 16 states.

Two saints met when she was advised by Mother Cabrini about the 'politics' of getting her Order's Rule approved in Rome. Her crowning achievement was the founding of Xavier University in New Orleans, the first university in the United States for blacks.

At 77, she suffered a heart attack and was forced to retire. Apparently her life was over. But now came almost 20 years of quiet prayer from a small room overlooking the sanctuary. Small notebooks and slips of paper record her various prayers, ceaseless aspirations and meditation. She died at 96 and was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2000.

Saint Katharine Drexel , inspired by your example may we never lose heart when faced with poverty , racism , ignorance and violence .

 

[S.ilvio]

Belated Happy St.David's Day to our Welsh friends...